This invention relates to high frequency oscillators, and more particularly, to a high frequency oscillator having complementary multi-phase outputs.
In the data communications field, there are many applications for a multi-phase oscillator with complementary outputs. For example, a nine stage oscillator would produce at the oscillator frequency nine six multi-phase output signals phased 40, 80, 120, 160, 200, 240,280, 320, and 360 degrees from each other. But each stage adds delay. Thus, generally the more stages there are, the slower is the oscillator and the lower is the maximum frequency of the oscillator. Complementary outputs can be generated by using differential stages or inverting single-ended outputs. However, both of these measures slow the oscillator operation and load the circuitry.